Anyway...
I'm still doing pretty well with my Project Life for 2013. So far I've gotten through week 4 done. Yea me! I've shared weeks 1 and 2 previously. Moving forward -today I'll share weeks 3 & 4.
A couple random thoughts about my Project Life so far this year.... First, I've noticed myself using a TON of neutral backgrounds in my scrapping lately. Mostly just white or gray or some shade very close to white. I'm just drawn to the cleanness it gives to the page. This has been a shift for me from my historical way of building a page, but right now it makes me happy, so I'm going with it.
Another observation about this project for me... In years past, I've struggled with the format - all digital? paper? use the standard templates? use the actual PL products? photo pockets? page protectors? Seriously, WHY did I make it so complicated? This year I've gone back to what I know and love. I've just decided to plop the pictures on a (digital) page in whatever layout strikes my fancy at the moment (using that phrase makes me think of my grandma *lol*). And so far I like the look. Nope, there's no continuity from page to page and week to week - not in color scheme or layout format or anything. But really, that's pretty appropriate for me, I'd say.
So for those of you tackling this for the first time, or considering it but standing back out of feeling overwhelmed, take heart! You can do it however YOU feel like doing it. Just do SOMETHING with SOME of your stuff. It's better than nothing. And perfection is NEVER the goal... being DONE is.
Okay, on to the layouts...
WEEK 3: We finished the first round of puppy classes. Lucas left for Ohio for the week. And Isaac spent the night with one of his friends while Sebastian, Meagan and I headed to Chicago on Monday for the Windy City meet.
Why is it that every picture of Dublin looking at me sort of looks like he's a possessed zombie dog? Really, he IS a cute dog, but he sort of always looks a little off his rocker in photos!! Ha!!
Oh, and this was the kids' first encounter with Starbucks. They got steamed milk with syrup. And whipped cream. And they were happy kids.
(Oh and one more thing, that's NOT our dog. :) He's a sweet doggy named Abner, who belongs to our trainer. The kids were so happy to finally get to pet Abner once the class was all over because he was finally a 'free dog'... no longer on teaching duty!!)
WEEK 4: Meets, meets, and more meets. I've really not been doing a great job of taking photos all the time. But I'm okay with that. Sometimes our life is pretty repetitive, and I don't need 700 pictures of us in the van, or the kids doing homework, or the dog playing with toys. It's all kind of the same. Sometimes, it's okay to let myself off the hook and just get the highlights. That's what happened this week. It was another week of Lucas traveling, and I was just busy. Not a thought was given to photography, except for at the meets.
Meagan had a meet on Saturday, and Sebastian on Sunday. One in Indy, the other in Cincy. Lots of time traveling and sitting on uncomfortable bleachers. The tough thing about meets is that you sit for SOOOOO long to watch a sum total of about 5 minutes of action from your own kid. That's just the way it is.
In my journaling, I did document some of the other things that happened during the week.
Originally with this second page, I wanted to just highlight some extra photos of the kids from their meets. But as I was looking through the pictures, I was really struck by how very different their gymnastics experiences are right now. Meagan is struggling. She's not scoring anywhere NEAR what most of her teammates are scoring. On any event. And she's struggling to get the minimum qualifying score for state (which is a 32.0). This particular meet was her 2nd to last attempt at getting the 2nd 32 of the year so she would qualify for state. She missed it by about a tenth. She was so discouraged at the end of the day. It breaks my heart to have these conversations with her - conversations about trying and keeping a good attitude, even when things don't go your way. I mean, they are great life lessons. And I'm sure God will use these to temper her and to shape and mold who she is. Still, those realizations don't make it any easier to see the hurt in her eyes. I just want to hug her until it's okay. But I can't make this okay for her. She has to work through it on her own.
That, in contrast to Sebastian, who is having a stellar competition season. So far he has won all-around at every meet he has participated in. Translation - he's getting lots of medals, while his sister gets few or none. It's been a bit of a challenge to navigate through these waters. Thankfully, Meagan has a great heart, and she IS genuinely HAPPY for her brother when he does well. It's simply that she wants to also be doing well.
So, my page 2 morphed from a few extra photos to a documentation of this experience. It's part of our life - a big part - right now, and I thought it was worth noting.
Also this year, I'm going to throw in extras. I want to have more of a comprehensive album when I'm done, rather than just a week to week to week. The plan is to try to stick 'regular' layouts, as well as documents (like report cards, art work, and other such goodness) into the album as well. True, this may require more than one physical album to get through the year. But in the end, it will all be in one place, and I will give a happy sigh.
This is one of those extras I'm planning to include. Because a book about our life is NOT complete without Dublin. This dog and his outside play time!! He LOVES it! Loves to run and chase down the frisbee. As to whether or not he'll give it back to throw again, that's a toss-up. Sometimes it turns more into a game of keep-away than fetch. It's all good. As long as he's happy, I'm good with it.
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